"So... this is how i'll die,"
I said with a bold smirk on my face as my conscience slowly faded.
A useless harsh sentence from someone who is nothing more than a 'mob' in his own life.
Fortunately, no one was in the room but me; at least i was spared this embarrassment before i died.
I was working at a part-time job when suddenly something hit me on the head, making me fall to the ground.
Yep!
Another victim in the world of youth employment, i would laugh if i wasn't the victim in question.
In my twenty years, i've lived a really boring life. Few friends, a relationship or two, a less than remarkable academic career, a lovely family, but nothing more.
Don't get me wrong!
I'm grateful for what i've had, but nothing really...
Important.
I don't know if i'll go to hell or heaven -most likely the former considering my terrible sarcasm- or if there's really an afterlife at all.
The only thing that comes to mind when i think back on how i've lived, the life i've lived, is:
"I could have done better."
The last light went out, and i found myself in the void...
Then i opened my eyes and found myself in the arms of a woman whose face i couldn't quite focus on.
'Reincarnation, then...' i thought.
'...I guess to owe Hinduism a lot of apologies. Well! At least i didn't reincarnate as a pig. No, wait! Was that another religion?'
'...'
'I DON'T KNOW MAN! I hate this isekai-bullsh**, but now i AM in the bullsh** in question.'
Interrupting my thoughts was the gentle voice of the woman holding me, who i assume is my mother in this life.
"Are you awake Sunny? Come on, it's time to eat!"
'Sunny!? Wasn't Sunless the same name as the main characters of the Novel i was reading before dying?
What a bizzarre coincidence!'
16 Years Later
A fearly-lean looking young man with pale skin and dark circles under his eyes was sitting on a rusty bench across from the police station. He was cradling a cup of coffee in his hands.
Of course he is Sunless, our noble cockroach.
"Well, f*** me sideways!!! I am really in Shadow Slave." said the man to himself followed by a long sigh.
"I guess i can't be helped, i can only go with the flow."
Shaking his head and cursing, Sunless finished the coffe and tossed the cup into a garbage bin. The cup missed the bin by a wide margin and fell on the ground.
Sunless rolled his eyes, walked over and picked it up before carefully putting it in the trash.
"At least this one went as it should have been." said Sunless with a sigh.
Since being reincarnated in the world of his favorite novel, he has discovered that many things were different from the original story.
First: Sunless's father, his father now, wasn't dead like in the original story but disappeared abandoning him, his mother, and his sister Rain.
What a scum!
Second: the existence of the Supremes wasn't hidden from the public, but more shockingly Broken Sword was ALIVE and one of them. Yet the Immortal Flame Clan was still in decline.
HOW!?
And third but most nosense: Rain had been adopted by Ki Song.
BRO! WTF!!!?
All this informations were confusing, and even though he was now used to the idea of being reincarnated in the world of a Novel, the fact that what he knew from the original Novel was completely different derailed all his plans.
What else has changed?
Have he perhaps been reborn in an alternate timeline?
Is his fault behind all this?
So many questions, but no answers.
Before heading to the police station, he took one last look at a particular tree with two lines drawn on it.
Getting a little closer, looking at the two lines, one could read:
"Mom, Sunless."
Even though he was officially dead in his previous world, he is alive in this one and his parents at the time were perhaps still alive and probably still mourning his death.
The thought brought a hint of sadness to his eyes.
In the first few years of his new life, he hadn't thought about it often.
But after watching his current mother die. It's become a sign of regret, a guilt he can't forgive himself or stop thinking about it.
He had left them and didn't even have the chance to say goodbye to them.
How can the others isekai-MCs live their new life with this guilt?
He will never be able to forgive himself, because now every time he think of his mother's death, he know what they must felt.
Shaking his head again and chasing away the thought, Sunny pulled a communicator from his pocket and called a certain dead beauty.
"Hey darling, how are you?" Said with a singing voice.
"Hey little devil, what have you done this time?" answered a female voice.
This voice was, of course, Master Jet alias Soul Reaper.
(Sunless's POV)
In this years after my mother passed away, i had not been in the outskirt without doing anything.
I built my own reputation!
I hunted down gangs of thugs, spied on, scammed, and robbed thieves of their own thefts.
Sure, the twenty years of my pre-life experience helped me a lot on my survival.
Hell! I even got a nickname: "The devil of Outskirts."
I know! It's cringe.
My reputation even reached a certain Master from whom i accepted a couple of jobs in exchange for some money and self-defense lessons.
How did i convince her to train me?
Well...
I can't believe how i did it, but I DID IT!
It was also thanks to her that i was able to find out where Rain was.
This priced detectives were totally useless to find her, especially within the domain of a Sovereign.
SCAMMERS!
Even though this world isn't exactly as i knew it, i still tried to prepare myself as best i could.
Now, let's go back to the call.
-----
"Nothing really! I missed you and thought to call you, also... three days ago the first symptoms appeared."
"Were are you now?" Asked Jet with a serious and slightly worried voice.
"in front of the police station where we left those bad guys last time."
"I'll be right there, how long can you stay awake?"
"Maybe a couple of hours."
"Alright!" With this Jet ended the call.
Having done this he headed towards the police station.
A few minutes later, Sunny was yawning while several policemen were busy putting him in restraints. Soon, he was fastened into a bulky chair that looked like a weird mix between a hospital bed and a torture device. The room they were in was situated in the basement of the police station, with thick armored walls and a formidable-looking vault door.
Other officers were standing near the walls, with automatic rifles in their hands and worried expressions on their faces.
He did not particularly care about them. The only thing he could think about was how much he wanted to sleep.
A policeman who was tying him up looked at him with a sad expression and asked: "Are you sure it's not just a lack of sleep, devil?"
"More than sure, i've checked over and over again. I'm certain i've been infected by the spell."
Looking up at the policeman, Sunny added: "Cheer-up Bob! The outskirts didn't kill me, something like a little nap what could it possibly do to me?"
"I hope so my friend." said Bob with a worried sigh.
Finally, the vault door opened, a young woman in her twenty with dark black hair and icy-blue eyes wearing a blue jacket enter in the room, looking around her eyes first rested on the officers near the wall, weapons ready in their hands, then on the young man tied like a puppet to the chair.
A small smile of relief appeared on the beauty's face as she said to the officers: "I'll take care of it now, you can go out."
Once the officers left, only the two of them remained in the room.
Approaching Sunny, Jet putted his head and said:"You're always getting into trouble, aren't you little devil?"
Her voice seemed calm and composed, but he could sense the concern lurking in her words.
"We both knew this would happen, luck has never been on my side." He said.
"But don't worry! I would never dream of leaving a beauty like you alone."
"Shameless as always." Jet smiled.
"Always," he replied with a smile.
(Sunless's POV)
Yep! I will not SIMP that autistic blowtorch.
I mean...
Come on! Nephis is certainly OK, but i will not hang out only with her.
Every Trash-Isekai-MC by the law gotta smash hot chicks and gain overpowered abilities.
I AM a Trash-Isekai-MC, so!
I gotta smash hot chicks and gain overpowered abilities, it's the law.
If this is the law, who dares to stop it!? Not me.
-----
Jet looked at him again and asked: "Is there anything you want to know before you start your first nightmare? I'm here for that."
"No, i already know everything i need to know, the rest will be up to me, and thanks to your training, by the way. Now i feel more than ready to face what lies ahead."
'Hoping the first nightmare isn't different from the original timeline either.' He added to himself.
Sunny thought about it for a moment and with a devilish smile he added: "Hey! Maybe after i wake up you could even give me a kiss as a reward."
Jet raised an eyebrow and said: "Mmm!... why not?"
Sunny blushed deeply. Seeing his reaction, Jet laughed.
'Damnation! Why am i reacting like this? It's not like i've never courted a girl... or at least not in this life.'
During this past five years he spent much time with Jet, he began to develop feelings for the dead beauty. Even though their relationship did not go beyond a deep friendship, he really developed feelings for her.
'Now i understand what the original Sunless meant. Jet really is the most beautiful girl i've ever seen.'
With this thought, he slowly closed his eyes, but before falling asleep he felt a hand gently caressing his right cheek and Jet's voice whispering: "Be safe Sunny."
[Aspirant! Welcome to the Nightmare Spell. Prepare for your first trial...]
'Here we go!'